Shimmy Shimmy Quarter Turn
by okaycomputer
Summary: The iPod Shuffle Challenge; what else? An interesting smattering of all things Life With Derek. There is the teensiest bit of language, sorry.


**Decided to give it a go. Amazingly nothing incredibly embarrassing popped up.**

**Songs and characters are sadly not mine.**

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**1. Tainted Love (techno remix) – Dépêche Mode**

Their eyes met across the cafeteria. A flush rising to her cheeks, she quickly looked away.

He continued to stare.

Almost no one noticed the exchange—except her football player boyfriend, sitting beside her.

Lunch was over, and she refused to look at her boyfriend as she gathered up her things, threw out her trash, and headed to the next class. She went to give him a kiss, and he turned his face and gave her his cheek instead. Her brow furrowed a little, but she shrugged it off and hurried on her way to physics.

Meanwhile, football Barbie sat in the back of his history class, brooding. This wasn't right. Or fair. To any of them. He doodled on the margins of his notebook, wondering why exactly he hadn't picked up on this before. He had been dating Casey McDonald for over a year now—and he was just now realizing that she didn't love him? It was almost pathetic.

The bell rand, and he stood up, determined. He grabbed his books and stormed out of the classroom. Casey's physics class was practically on the other side of the school, so he was going to have to make quick time in order to intercept her before she got to her locker.

He managed easily.

"Max," she said, surprised to see her boyfriend. He never walked her from physics to French, because his classes were on the other side of the school, and it just wasn't realistic.

"It's over, Case," he said quickly, before she could say anything else. She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. "Everyone knows you don't really love me anyways. It just took me longer to figure it out."

And he turned and walked away.

**2. Overdrive – Katy Rose**

Seventeen year old Marti Venturi stumbled down the stairs, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Nora knitted her eyebrows together, entirely unnerved about the uncanny similarities between the young girl and her eldest brother when he was that age.

Silently, Marti chugged a glass of orange juice, washed it out in the sink, and headed back upstairs to get ready for work.

An hour later, she was standing behind the counter at Vinyl, the hip new music store in downtown London, boredom obvious on her face. Examining her nails, she looked up as the bell signaled a new customer.

He was six-foot-two, with black hair and green eyes. He hugged his blue motorcycle helmet to his hip, looking around the dark store. He caught Marti's gaze and smiled.

She smiled back.

**3. You Won't Know – Brand New**

Derek slammed the door to his apartment, throwing his bag down on the couch before stomping into his room to change out of his work clothes. Reemerging in an oversized pair of sweats and a teeshirt, he flopped ungracefully down on the couch next to his things.

His roommate, on an adjacent armchair, looked up over the top of his book. "Bad day?" he asked.

Derek just grunted in response.

Four hours later, Derek was sitting at the bar, downing his eleventeenth beer, when he noticed a pretty brunette sitting across the way. Not just any brunette, mind you.

Drunkenly, he stood up off of his stool, wiping a bit of foam off the corner of his mouth. Sauntering over to the small table the girl was sitting at, he managed not to run into anything. Planting his hands firmly on the cool wooden surface, he leaded over, leering right into her face.

She scrunched her nose at the smell of his breath (you could probably get drunk off the fumes alone), and shrank back a little. A silent moment passed between them, a deadly staring contest. Her chest started to heave slightly as her breathing intensified, and he breathed out a breathy, mean little laugh.

"I still love you."

**4. The Tigers Have Spoken – Neko Case**

Freakin' prom. He pulled at his tux, annoyed. Looking around the room for his date, he spotted her with a few of her girl friends, giggling her stupid head off. Flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder, her fingers played with the edge of her silvery dress. Why did he even ask her? Who knows.

A familiar laugh caught his attention, coming from across the way. Her hair was down in soft waves, her dress was simple and blue, and she looked better than anyone else in the room.

Just then the DJ switched it to a slower song. Her favorite song. Suddenly she looked as blue as her dress, her date nowhere to be found. She stared at the floor.

Edwin glanced over his shoulder. Michelle was still busy gossiping with her fellow harpies. So he stood up, and walked across the room.

"Hey Liz, wanna dance?"

**5. Black Cat – Mayday Parade**

He watched quietly as Casey and Derek danced in the street outside their house, the faint sounds of the radio coming from the Prince, the only light provided by the moon. They looked like a fucking fairytale.

She leaned in to kiss him, and Edwin had to turn away. He cursed whoever came up with the idea of older brothers. Especially older brothers like Derek.

What Derek wants, Derek gets.

What most people don't realize is that also what _Edwin_ wants, Derek gets.

Not that he ever really thought he could have had a chance with his older stepsister, but it still didn't seem fair that Derek got her.

Derek was all wrong for her.

"He's all wrong for you, Casey," he growled quietly from the darkened living room.

"No he's not, Edwin," came a voice from the top of the stairwell, and Lizzie emerged from the shadows, walking down a few steps. "He's perfect for her, and _that_ what kills you."

**6. Victim of a Foolish Heart – Joss Stone**

It was just a silly crush, she knew. She wasn't even sure _why_ she liked him. Still, after all this time.

He was one of those things she just couldn't off her mind.

Even now, laying flush in the arms of her perfect (on paper) boyfriend, she couldn't help but think of _him._

Derek Venturi, her own personal form of torture.

It wasn't enough that he had lived next door to her all their lives. It wasn't enough that he now lived two floors down in her apartment building. It wasn't enough that he went to her university. It wasn't enough that he was in half of her classes, because they had the same minor.

No, he had to go and ask her best friend to marry him, too.

And Emily was happy for them, really. Everyone had always known how perfect they were for each other. She plastered on a fake smile, as she helped Lizzie ("Oh Em, you know how hard it was for me to choose between the two of you for my maid of honor, but in the end it just HAD to be my sister. You understand, right?") with all of the preparations. Oh I'm so happy for you, Casey.

But she couldn't help feeling this way. She sighed, nuzzling her head into Sam's shoulder, and wondered if she would _ever_ get over Derek.

**7. Black & Blue – Chris Garneau**

Casey slowly ran the brush through her hair. Counting each stroke to herself. Finally satisfied, she put the brush down slowly. She stood up from her bed, walking over to the closet. She opened the door, pulling out the shiny white graduation gown. Throwing it on her bed, she pulled out the simple black dress in the closet behind it.

Impulsively, she threw off the simple white dress her mother had bought her for the ceremony, and pulled the old black one on.

Inhaling deeply, a tear leaked out of her eye, and then another. They raced each other down her cheek, and she slowly sank to the floor, her back braced against the closet. The dress still smelled like the incense they had used for the funeral. Taking a deep breath, she tried not to sob. Can't mess up the makeup, she thought to herself.

The door banged open suddenly, but she didn't even react.

"Come _on _Princess, we're gonna be late—" Derek started, until he caught sight of Casey, crumpled on the floor. "Oh crap, Case, come on."

He rushed into the room, and sank down to his knees next to her. Hesitantly, like he thought maybe her skin was going to burn him if he touched her, he put his arms around her bare shoulders, and drew her slowly to his chest.

That was all it took for her to start crying in earnest. He smoothed her hair gently as her shoulders shook.

"I miss him so much," she said shakily.

**8. Envelopes – Sleeping at Last**

He was surrounded by a sea of whites and creams, punctuated occasionally by an accent of pink or blue or gold or silver.

It felt kind of like he was having a nightmare.

Except when he looked to his right and caught sight of the love of his life, hair messy from exhaustion, searching through the piles and piles of envelopes. Then it felt a little more like heaven.

"Damnit," she said under her breath. It was the only thing either of them had said in awhile, and the sudden breaking of the silence startled Derek. She rolled her eyes as he almost fell off of his chair.

"I don't really like any of these, do you?" she asked him, turning to face him so quickly that a lock of chocolate hair got caught in the draft and wrapped itself across her face. Reaching forward, he tucked the errant strand behind her ear, and kissed her nose.

"Nope," was all he said. She giggled. When had this boy become such a sap?

She voiced this thought aloud to him, and he gave her a look that could freeze Niagra Falls into a giant ice sculpture.

"If you keep saying stuff like that, someone's going to notice," he said with mock severity. "Now, come on Space Case, we want to get the envelopes for these damn wedding invitations picked out before we die, don't we?"

**9. Lazy Days – Shwayze**

Stretching out on her towel on top of her high rise building in downtown LA, Casey thanked the Lord for sunlight. She was just about to drift off to sleep when her cell phone went off shrilly, startling her out of her vitamin D coma. Looking at the caller ID, she saw it was her mother. Deciding it could probably wait, she hit ignore and turned her phone on silent before getting back to her relaxing.

It was days like these that made her wonder why she ever missed being in London.

She had almost drifted off again, when the sudden sound of a police siren wailing past on the streets below again jolted her back awake. Sighing, she figured she had probably had enough sun for the day anyway. Didn't want to get skin cancer now, did we.

Pulling on her jeans shorts, she threw her towel over her should and put her book, cell phone, and iPod back into her tote bag. She walked down the four flights to her 26th floor apartment. Stepping into the hallway, she stopped suddenly. There was someone slumped against the wall outside of her door. Her heart leaped into her throat, and she grabbed her cell phone and some pepper spray out of her tote bag.

Trying to act nonchalant, she continued walking down the hallway, cautiously trying to decide if the figure by her door was going to hurt her or was dead.

At the sound of her footsteps, the figure raised its head, looking right at her. Standing up, he started to walk towards her. Trying not to scream, Casey gripped her pepper spray tighter.

When the person got close enough to get a good look at, Casey stopped in her tracks. After a moment, she let out a frustrated little grunt before chucking the pepper spray canister at the guy's head.

"Der-EK!" she screamed.

Dodging the little can that was flying at his head, Derek laughed.

"What! Your mom said she called to tell you I was coming. And I called like three times when I got here. It's not my fault you never answer your phone!"

**10. Come With Me – To My Surprise**

The thick envelop shook slightly in his hands as he slid the seal open.

"Ouch!" Edwin sucked the inside of his pointer finger, where he now had a nasty paper cut.

Grabbing a butter knife from the kitchen drawer instead, he slid the envelope open. He couldn't help the grin that spread across his face when he finally got the sheaf of papers out.

"Well?!" his best friend insisted from across the island.

"Can't you tell from the big dopey grin on his face?" Derek asked obnoxiously as he snatched the sheaf of papers out of his younger brother's hands. Edwin groaned. Why did Derek have to choose THIS weekend to come home?

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**In conclusion, I need to work on my ability to write something other than angst. **

**Maybe one or two of these will metastasize into a story. **


End file.
